The 1959 NFL season was the 30th year of the Detroit Lions in the National Football League (NFL). The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 4–7–1, winning only three games.1959 Detroit Lions They missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
Regular season
According to the team, a total of 41,029 season tickets were sold by the Lions for the 1959 campaign.Edward M. "Bud" Erickson (ed.), Detroit Lions Facts Book 1963: Press, Radio, TV. Detroit, MI: Detroit Football Company, 1963, p. 4. The Lions played their home games in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium), which had a regular listed seating capacity of 46,194, with an additional 7,000 bleacher seats for football to bring total capacity to 53,194.
For the 1959 season the Lions offered box seat tickets for $6.00, upper grandstand seats for $4.50, lower grandstand seats for $3.50, and bleacher seats for $2.00.E.J. O'Malley, "Purchasing NFL Tickets: A Guide to Ticket Information," Sports Forecast, vol. 2, no. 2. Chicago: E.J. O'Malley Publishing Co., 1959; p. 78. Season tickets were similarly tiered, with prices of $36, $27, $21, and $12 for the full slate of six home games.
Schedule
GameDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecapSources 1 September 27 at Baltimore Colts L 9–21 0–1 Memorial Stadium 55,588 Recap 2 October 4 at Green Bay Packers L 10–28 0–2 New City Stadium 32,150 Recap 3 October 11 Baltimore Colts L 24–31 0–3 Briggs Stadium 54,197 Recap 4 October 18 San Francisco 49ers L 13–34 0–4 Briggs Stadium 52,585 Recap 5 October 25 at Los Angeles Rams W 17–7 1–4 L.A. Memorial Coliseum 74,288 Recap 6 November 1 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–33 1–5 Kezar Stadium 59,064 Recap 7 November 8 at Pittsburgh Steelers T 10–10 1–5–1 Forbes Field 24,614 Recap 8 November 15 Los Angeles Rams W 23–17 2–5–1 Briggs Stadium 52,217 Recap 9 November 22 Chicago Bears L 14–24 2–6–1 Briggs Stadium 54,059 Recap 10 November 26 Green Bay Packers L 17–24 2–7–1 Briggs Stadium 49,221 Recap 11 December 6 Chicago Cardinals W 45–21 3–7–1 Briggs Stadium 45,811 Recap 12 December 13 at Chicago Bears L 14–25 3–8–1 Wrigley Field 40,890 Recap Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. November 26: Thanksgiving
Standings
Roster Detroit Lions 1958 roster Quarterbacks 14 Earl Morrall 18 Tobin Rote
Running backs 40 Howard Cassady 35 John Henry Johnson 45 Dan Lewis 34 Ken Webb
Receivers 88 Gene Cook 83 Jim Doran 80 Jim Gibbons 84 Dave Middleton 87 Jerry Reichow QB Offensive linemen 50 Charlie Ane C/T 76 Lou Creekmur T 75 John Gordy G/T 60 Bob Grottkau G 64 Mike Rabold G 66 Harley Sewell G 76 Ollie Spencer T
Defensive linemen 85 Gene Cronin DE/OLB 53 Bill Glass DE/C 71 Alex Karras DT 72 Gil Mains DT/DE 78 Darris McCord DE 79 Gerry Perry DT/DE/K 74 Jim Weatherall DT Linebackers 86 Bob Long OLB 47 Jim Martin OLB/K 56 Joe Schmidt MLB 55 Wayne Walker OLB
Defensive backs 41 Terry Barr CB/RB 25 James David CB 28 Yale Lary CB/S/P 24 Dick LeBeau S 43 Gary Lowe S 20 Jim Steffen CB 23 Dave Whitsell S/CB Reserve lists -- Hal Boutte WR (Military) 26 Gene Gedman RB (IR) 88 Steve Junker WR (IR) -- Ron Luciano T (IR) 33 Nick Pietrosante RB (IR)
rookies in italics
References